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024 - Harness the Power of Fractional CMOs for eCommerce Success

Welcome, dear e-commerce empresses, to another exciting episode of Women Powering eCommerce. Join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we embark on a journey through my experiences as a female e-commerce entrepreneur. Together, we'll explore the highs, and the lows, and inspire you to take action, propelling your own business aspirations to new heights. Let's dive in! Have you ever felt like your e-commerce business could use an extra boost in marketing strategy without committing to a full-time executive? Well, you're not alone. Today, I'm excited to share with you a game-changing concept: fractional CMOs. These unsung heroes can be a secret weapon in scaling your business. Let's break down the key takeaways.

Welcome, dear e-commerce empresses, to another exciting episode of Women Powering eCommerce. Join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we embark on a journey through my experiences as a female e-commerce entrepreneur. Together, we'll explore the highs, and the lows, and inspire you to take action, propelling your own business aspirations to new heights. Let's dive in!

Have you ever felt like your e-commerce business could use an extra boost in marketing strategy without committing to a full-time executive? Well, you're not alone. Today, I'm excited to share with you a game-changing concept: fractional CMOs. These unsung heroes can be a secret weapon in scaling your business. Let's break down the key takeaways.

Understanding the Role: What is a Fractional CMO?

Before delving into the world of fractional CMOs, let's clarify what a CMO is in the first place. CMO stands for "chief marketing officer." This role is responsible for overseeing and crafting the marketing efforts of a company, steering it toward success in the competitive marketplace. Now, what if I told you that you can harness the power of a CMO without a full-time commitment? That's where the concept of "fractional" comes into play.

A fractional CMO is like a marketing maestro you can call part-time. Rather than hiring a full-time CMO, which might feel like a big leap, you can tap into the expertise of a fractional CMO, outsourcing their strategic insights for a few hours per week. Think of it as enlisting a seasoned navigator to steer your marketing ship through the turbulent seas of business, providing the right guidance and direction.

A Leap into Uncharted Territory: Why Fractional CMOs Matter

Picture this: your e-commerce business is humming along, but you've hit a growth plateau. The solutions you've employed so far aren't taking you to the next level. It's at this crossroads that fractional CMOs shine. Allow me to share my personal journey.

Not long ago, my business was in a similar situation. We had a capable marketing manager, but we found ourselves craving a fresh perspective to break through our limitations. The idea of hiring a full-time marketing director felt like a quantum leap, and our business wasn't quite ready for a full C-suite addition. That's when I stumbled upon fractional C-level executives.

The Hidden Benefits of Fractional CMOs

The revelation of fractional CMOs was a game-changer. Let me share the golden nuggets of wisdom I've gained from this experience:

Experience Amplified

Fractional CMOs bring a treasure trove of experience to the table. They've navigated marketing landscapes in various businesses, gathering insights and patterns that prove invaluable in crafting strategies that work. For instance, I gained confidence when they led meetings with internal teams and external partners, setting expectations and asking the right questions for desired outcomes.

Risk Mitigation

Opting for a fractional CMO minimizes risk. While their expertise is potent, the commitment is flexible. It's not a lifelong partnership, but rather a dedicated collaboration to achieve specific goals. This dynamic allows you to reap the benefits of their wisdom without the weight of full-time hiring.

Fresh Perspectives

Imagine being lost in the forest of operations, only to have someone with a bird's-eye view guide you. Fractional CMOs infuse your business with fresh, innovative ideas, disrupting stagnation and inspiring creativity.

The Transition: Strategy to Execution

While fractional CMOs excel in strategy, they're not the workhorses for implementation. Once the strategic framework is in place, it's time to shift gears and put the plan into action. This is where the fractional CMO gracefully steps back, and other team members take the reins, translating strategy into tangible results. It's like having a seasoned coach guide your team to victory and then passing the baton for the final sprint.

Finding Your Fractional CMO Gem

You might be wondering, "How do I find this magical fractional CMO?" Look no further than LinkedIn, a platform teeming with professional talent. To elevate your search, consider subscribing to LinkedIn Recruiter Lite. This premium feature empowers you to filter candidates that match your specific requirements, paving the way for an ideal partnership.

Fractional CMOs – A Transformative Choice

In hindsight, my foray into the world of fractional CMOs was a resounding success. The external insights, the strategic partnership, and the actionable guidance collectively elevated our e-commerce journey. While my current marketing team has found their rhythm, I'm fully aware that when the need for fresh perspectives and external expertise arises again, I'll eagerly turn to fractional CMOs once more.

Conclusion

As we wrap up this episode, I encourage you to reflect on the idea of fractional CMOs as a transformative asset for your e-commerce endeavors. The journey toward success is multifaceted, and sometimes, the wisest choice is to seek guidance from those who have navigated the terrains before. Remember, it's not about the destination, but the journey, and fractional CMOs can be the compass that guides you toward uncharted horizons.

Thank you for joining me on this insightful escapade. Your support and engagement fuel the flames of inspiration for fellow women entrepreneurs in the e-commerce realm. Don't forget to share this podcast episode and connect with me on social media for more empowering content. Until next time, keep blazing your trail and turning your dreams into reality. Your e-commerce empire awaits!
Episode Transcription

024 - Harness the Power of Fractional CMOs for eCommerce Success

(00:00):

Welcome, e-commerce empresses, to this episode of Women Powering eCommerce. Join me every Tuesday and Thursday as I take you behind the scenes of my journey as a female e-commerce entrepreneur. Together, we'll explore the highs, the lows, inspiring you to take action and achieve your own business goals. So let's get started.

(00:33):

So, I really wanted to do a little episode on CMOs, fractional CMOs in particular. And I thought this could be useful to some of you. It's information that I wish I would've known a while back, so I'm just going to share it with you. And if you feel that it's valuable, then great, I'll be more than happy. So what is a CMO? First of all, it's short for a chief marketing officer, and a CMO is responsible for overseeing and basically strategizing all the aspects of a company's marketing efforts. And so that's a CMO. Now, what is a fractional CMO? Fractional means it's for outsourcing, it's for the part-time position of that role. So usually, if you hire a fractional C-suite, then it'll be someone that doesn't work in your company, it'll be someone you outsource. It's someone you outsource. And usually, they'll work just for a few hours every week just to be there for the strategy part, and to give you some advice, and just direct you.

(01:48):

So here's the situation. So last year, we needed more than a marketing manager. So we had a marketing manager for a while now and it had really done a good job. We were happy. But then we were kind of stuck and we hit a wall of ceiling, I don't know how you want to call it, but we needed something else to grow outside of what we were doing. So we were thinking, "Should we need a marketing director?" But to be honest, I felt like it was a big step-up to hire full-time marketing director, we felt like a big jump. And we were not either at the level of hiring C-suite yet. And then that's what doing some research, that's when I learned about fractional C-level executives.

(02:40):

Yeah, I did not know about those before. That's why I'm sharing that with you today because if you're like me, I did not know that it was possible. I thought you had to hire someone full-time, whoever the hire was. But no, if you want to kind of do an in-between thing, you can. And there are a lot of benefits in doing that. And that's what I did last year and I am super happy that I did that and took on that decision. So one of the benefits was the experience. You can benefit from that person's experience without having to hire them full time. That person led meetings with confidence with their internal team, but also with some suppliers like agencies. That person knew what to ask for in what the actual results to expect worse.

(03:38):

I felt sometimes not experienced as to what I should expect from a marketing agency. When I say marketing agency, I mean we had a paid ads agency for Facebook, Google Ads, things like that. I wasn't exactly sure what would be a ROAS to expect, a reasonable one, all those metrics. Because I only had my vision of my company compared to that fractional CMO who had worked in several businesses. They knew the patterns, they knew what to expect and they saw a lot of things. So you benefit from that, which is huge. So that gave us a lot of confidence and it was great, the advice they gave us, I say they, he/her, that person. So it was less risk. We didn't have to hire full-time as if the same way we would've hired a marketing director, for example.

(04:42):

And the reason, what we were actually looking for was someone to help us with strategy and implementing a few key things for just a few months. And that's what we did. We hired that person, we hired their fractional CMO, they helped us with the strategy, they helped us implement a few metrics here and there or things to follow up on, gave us advice on what would be normally expected from suppliers for example or just team members. So we put all these things into place. And what's great about it, it's not a marriage. You can actually hire that person for a few months for the help and then let them go. And that's what we did. Once the strategy was there and put into place, we knew what we had to do with the rest of our team. So what we did, we took that budget, we hired other team members at a small rate per hour to do the work that we strategized on and actually implement it. So we reduced the risk by hiring that person but we still got good results.

(05:50):

And another thing that was very advantageous, and I said it a little bit before, but it's the external viewpoint. They brought new fresh ideas and when you're so into the work, and deep into the details, and the operations, there's just so many things you don't see from a bird's view perspective. And so, that was great, we loved that. But again, another reason why we stopped with that person, yes, they did the job we asked them to do, that person did that exactly what we required them to do, but they're into strategy. A CMO is into strategy. You don't ask them to do the actual work. It would be too costly per hour to pay them for that. It doesn't make sense. So once we did several months working on the strategy, we needed to get the work done, we needed to get to work. So like I said, we transferred our fractional CMO budget to team members to come in and do the actual work.

(06:58):

If you're looking to hire, for example, a fractional CMO, if it's something you were looking into, well, I can just say what has helped me and find the talent was on LinkedIn. Specifically, not just your regular LinkedIn, but you can subscribe to LinkedIn Recruiter Lite and then you have a pipeline, you can filter out what you're looking for. So that's how I found one and it worked out really well. So, that's how I ended up hiring a fractional CMO for a while. Would I do it again? Yes, absolutely, and I will once we need some more external ideas and help. But for now, we're okay with the team we have because we hired a new marketing team and we're doing good and we have a lot of things to work on. But eventually, definitely yes, I would repeat the experience. I loved it.

(07:54):

So take a moment to read and share this podcast or episode if you liked it. Your support is definitely needed to help inspire other women entrepreneurs in the e-commerce space. Thank you for being part of this journey with me. I hope you gained valuable insights and inspiration today to keep growing and taking action towards your goals. Please follow me on social media. Also follow us on your favorite podcast platform to get notifications every time a new episode is uploaded. See you next time.